What is Walgreen's "Power"

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From many and other RPH'S and TECH'S let go in TAMPA,FL last week I am here too tell you dont believe what they tell you it is all a bunch of crap!! And now I am gonna have a harder time finishing school because me and another tech were laid off friday.ALONG WITH 200 OTHERS...RPH'S INCLUDED IN TAMPA, ST.PETE AREA they still have a few more too let go on saturday....Crazy right now being on my own and they say the one week serverance for every yr pay u wont recieve for another 4 weeks..and unemployment is only offering like 250 a week, gonna be hard praying for something too happen...they called us back for floating tech postion with like 32 hrs a week or less and traveling up too 40 miles a week to one location?? ARE THEY CRAZY?>??? Any others out there let me know!
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I've been watching this thread for a few months now while my district has been going through the interviews and the transition to POWER. So, now that my store is fully power and has been for a while I would like to give my 0.02 and I have joined the site just for this purpose.
I hear others asking how will this provide better customer service when this happens or that happens. The fact is, power was created for the average patient. Anyone with special requests falls outside the norm and will require certain measures. For example, the patient who wants the white lisinopril or the sealed bottle of Tylenol 3, will need to be filled at the store level. Patients who do not want the new central fill bottles or bags must be repackaged when they get to our store. It's not perfect, but I would gladly take the bad with the good.... most of the time. During the busiest times of the day, when we really need power to work, it doesn't. I still get several doctor/copy/patient calls daily that could have been handled at the care center. They have 9 minutes to send us the label and some patients end up waiting longer than the promised 15 minutes (not 45 minutes or more as stated in an earlier post) before they say anything. And if the insurance rejects, it takes way too long to get resolution (especially for silly things like an incorrect days supply). Honestly, as a new pharmacist, I missed ringing my patients up. When I got licensed I was quickly transferred so I didn't know anyone. There are patients whose names I have seen on a daily basis for over a year now that I am just getting the opportunity to meet. I am so happy to finally get to introduce myself to many of these people.
I have 3 complaints about power. First, it is definitely more work that my previous system required. I am constantly on the run now and there are times that I am not able to leave to even get a bathroom break. Add to that the flu shots we are doing now and I might have to start wearing depends. I also would love to know where they found the people to work at the call center. I get more complaints from patients regarding those than anything else. I don't think any of them have ever worked a day in a store. I had a patient the other day who was told that because her insurance was rejecting, we would not fill her rx until she got to the store! My third complaint is my biggest - I can not override the central facility under any circumstance. I have 3 examples of times when I should have had that ability (all happened within a 24-hour period of each other). First, we took a script and filed it and it was never filled. The man comes back the next day and I tell him he is going to have to wait 15 minutes - for a z-pack. Second, I have a lady come in with 2 rx's for her sister who is in the car. Her sister has just had oral surgery and is in the car screaming in pain. Sorry - it's going to be 15 minutes. Last, a family with a small child in the back seat who has uncontrollable vomiting comes through my drive-thru (kid puking in the back seat) with a rx for Zofran ODT. Again - it's going to be 15 minutes - but in that case, I did go ahead and give them 1 tablet while they waited. A few months ago, I would have all of these meds filled in less than 5 minutes.
As far as the people who have said that it might increase errors (or the person who said there was one mistake that would have caused on OD for a child) that's actually how power is working. I counsel all my new scripts now and I have caught mistakes that might have reached the patient under the old system. We all make mistakes, but I think Power is built to reduce the chances of errors.
Another interesting point is that we thought people would hate the new bagging system. I have actually had many people tell me that they love the new bags and that there is one rx per bag. Mostly, people are just glad that we aren't using staples like crazy anymore. And for those people who predicted we would lose customers - we were up 4% over last year and I have done many more transfers in than transfers out lately.
I am still a little nervous about the cuts that might be coming, but all things considered I think Walgreens is on the right track with power.
 
former wag tech said:
From many and other RPH'S and TECH'S let go in TAMPA,FL last week I am here too tell you dont believe what they tell you it is all a bunch of crap!! And now I am gonna have a harder time finishing school because me and another tech were laid off friday.ALONG WITH 200 OTHERS...RPH'S INCLUDED IN TAMPA, ST.PETE AREA they still have a few more too let go on saturday....Crazy right now being on my own and they say the one week serverance for every yr pay u wont recieve for another 4 weeks..and unemployment is only offering like 250 a week, gonna be hard praying for something too happen...they called us back for floating tech postion with like 32 hrs a week or less and traveling up too 40 miles a week to one location?? ARE THEY CRAZY?>??? Any others out there let me know!
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I am a former wag sr. tech from here in Orlando and quit the company the last week. The power project is treating pt like they are numbers and customer service is at low that I wish I had never witnessed. I wish these were the reasons I am post this but… REALITY I have personally handled more rx errors and misfills as a result from this new program than I want to admit to and these were suppose to have been check by a Rph of site? I did not come from a slow store but one of if not busy stores in my market and our on site pharmacist were constantly correcting rx that had already been verified. I am cautioning everyone to remember that floater that just wasn’t great or wasn’t… well he/she could be at power checking rx. It was a game at our store how many “tickets” (the way we report errors to cpo) we could open in a shift.
To those who are skeptical about layoffs, I have watched my cashier, my friends, and my piers be laid off. The new wag does not care who they lay off rph or not because as so many point out there is a grad to take your place.
Wag will also get around the ratio law by calling the reps at the cpo specialist not tech and most are working from home any way. That’s what always upset, I was busting but at the store for hours but the reps at the cpo could get all the ot they want.
The point of this not to complain or whine but caution you before you trust POWER.
 
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former wag tech said:
From many and other RPH'S and TECH'S let go in TAMPA,FL last week I am here too tell you dont believe what they tell you it is all a bunch of crap!! And now I am gonna have a harder time finishing school because me and another tech were laid off friday.ALONG WITH 200 OTHERS...RPH'S INCLUDED IN TAMPA, ST.PETE AREA they still have a few more too let go on saturday....Crazy right now being on my own and they say the one week serverance for every yr pay u wont recieve for another 4 weeks..and unemployment is only offering like 250 a week, gonna be hard praying for something too happen...they called us back for floating tech postion with like 32 hrs a week or less and traveling up too 40 miles a week to one location?? ARE THEY CRAZY?>??? Any others out there let me know!
Click to expand...

I am a former wag sr. tech from here in Orlando and quit the company the last week. The power project is treating pt like they are numbers and customer service is at low that I wish I had never witnessed. I wish these were the reasons I am post this but… REALITY I have personally handled more rx errors and misfills as a result from this new program than I want to admit to and these were suppose to have been check by a Rph of site? I did not come from a slow store but one of if not busy stores in my market and our on site pharmacist were constantly correcting rx that had already been verified. I am cautioning everyone to remember that floater that just wasn’t great or wasn’t… well he/she could be at power checking rx. It was a game at our store how many “tickets” (the way we report errors to cpo) we could open in a shift.
To those who are skeptical about layoffs, I have watched my cashier, my friends, and my piers be laid off. The new wag does not care who they lay off rph or not because as so many point out there is a grad to take your place.
Wag will also get around the ratio law by calling the reps at the cpo specialist not tech and most are working from home any way. That’s what always upset, I was busting but at the store for hours but the reps at the cpo could get all the ot they want.
The point of this not to complain or whine but caution you before you trust POWER.
 
I moved from Phoenix after WAG offered the voluntary severance. I'm a staff pharmacist now at a large teaching hospital in the Midwest and I'm very happy with the decision, ecstatic is more the word :D

I see many complaining of the POWER program, and I am extremely familiar with it. My take on it is this:

Walgreens only has to answer to one person: the stockholders. They are a publicly traded company and looking to make the highest profit possible, and I don't see how anyone can blame them for that. They pay a good salary, and if that's what you want to be involved with, then do it, but don't complain about it.

I took about a 20% pay cut from WAG to my current job. But I've went from working overnight 7 on and off to M-F 9-5:30. The benefits at the hospital are much better, they gave me a very generous sign on, and they make me feel wanted and appreciated, and my input MATTERS.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you know what you are getting with Walgreens as a pharmacist, it's no secret at all. So if it's what you want to do, then do it and shut your mouth. If you don't like it, move on. It's better for you and WAG.

As you can tell, I don't hold any ill-will towards WAG. I know what they are about, and it's fine with me, I can understand it and appreciate it. I just don't want to deal with it, it's not worth it for a little extra $$$, at least for me.
 
Rebel78 said:
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you know what you are getting with Walgreens as a pharmacist, it's no secret at all. So if it's what you want to do, then do it and shut your mouth. If you don't like it, move on. It's better for you and WAG.
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Great advice...If you are a new grad who has never worked for Walgreens.

POWER is a new program so what do you have to say to the 10, 20 and 30 year employees? Walgreens did not used to be like this. Walgreens used to be a pharmacy run by pharmacists. Now it is run by idiot business men who could care less about the profession or individual pharmacists.
 
MountainPharmD said:
Great advice...If you are a new grad who has never worked for Walgreens.

POWER is a new program so what do you have to say to the 10, 20 and 30 year employees? Walgreens did not used to be like this. Walgreens used to be a pharmacy run by pharmacists. Now it is run by idiot business men who could care less about the profession or individual pharmacists.
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The folks it hurts most are the long-timers. I was with WAG for about 5 1/2 years. Not very long in the grand scheme, but it was frustrating as hell to make the decision. I never wanted to stay in retail forever anyway, so it made the move into hospital easier.

I'm one of the ones that actually think POWER can work, and will eventually. I've worked under the system, and I can see where its going. I don't think you can comment on it unless your in it as far as how well it works.

Whether it's good for the pharmacy profession or not is a whole other discussion.
 
MountainPharmD said:
POWER is a new program so what do you have to say to the 10, 20 and 30 year employees? Walgreens did not used to be like this. Walgreens used to be a pharmacy run by pharmacists. Now it is run by idiot business men who could care less about the profession or individual pharmacists.
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Very, very true. I've been with them for 20 years. We went through the "new program" jitters in the mid-90's when we switched from Intercom to Intercom Plus. But POWER is a totally different animal. Like I said before, I'm only sticking around for 3 more years and my alimony payments are over ... changing employment/pay not a good idea now. But my change will have nothing to do with adaptation to change. Instead it has EVERYTHING to do with the f*cknuts running this company now.

And, you're dead on about how this company has changed. A number of years you could see the change coming when the emphasis changed from turning RPhs into store managers then putting them on the fast track to becoming a DM into concentrating on more store managers and DMs having business degrees. The opinion of the RPh used to matter with WAG, not any more. Like the customers have become, we are simply numbers to corporate. I used to work as a RX Supervisor so I've seen both sides of the fence. It's a shame. It used to be an awesome company to work for!
 
For anyone out there who says POWER is a good thing, I have to say you are an a shame to your pharmacy profession. I can point out so many examples of abusing pharmacists by this company. Who can work 12 h straight with no lunch??? A pharmacist with 2 techs for 20 flu shots and more than 200 scripts??? and now they want us to come in early, work our ass off for 50 h to get the job done without pay? It's time for pharmacist to say enough is enough. POWER was never intended for us to do consultation and customer service. It was designed to pocket the executives. We become slaves. I was a very dedicated tech for Walgreens. I maintained the store and inventory well. But with all damage Walgreens has done, I am sorry to say that I can't wait till board of labor and pharmacy clamp down on your greed. Outside worktime, I will encourage everyone stops using Walgreens. Everytime customer complains, I will give the corporate number and tell them make that to the face of the person who creates it the first time. Sorry for the rant.
 
Anyone notice any outrage against POWER from our ORGANIZATIONS? I would like to know. Because if POWER is such a scurge...our (happy to take our dues) prof. orgs. should be irate...no?

Surely, they will protect us.
 
Are these forums censored? How come no news about what happening at Wags? It's over man. Pharmacy is done.
 
Well, this was quite an interesting historical read.

From the rumors I've heard from an old friend down south, Old Timer (and everyone else who thought the same as him) was right in his prediction that POWER would fail, rumor is its being shut down. My friend I heard this from doesn't work at Walgreens, so this is like 3rd hand knowledge...so take it with a grain of salt.

And BMBiology in this thread...arguing *for* letting in more H1B pharmacists???? I thought BMBiology was all about the pharmacist glut and oversaturation.

And SBH....am I the only who still wonders if she found a rich guy to marry and sponge off of?
 
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They are shutting down all central fill shortly. They are keeping central phone and verification.
 
^^ I am all for competition and I am not afraid of some foreign trained pharmacist or some new graduate taking my job.

And yes, I was right about this POWER crap. It was doom to fail. It offers no benefits to the consumers and it is not as cost effective as mail orders.

And wow, I was pretty aggressive back then too!

How many times have I been right? I should start charging you guys!
 
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This was posted in 2009. A classic post and should be added to the SDN archive:

BMBiology said:
This sounds like it is written by Walgreens spin machine. Too bad in theory the concept sounds nice but in reality, it will cost Walgreens more money. The "kinks" can't be solve because customers' behavior can't be change. Walgreens can't be "The Pharmacy America Trusts" when the pharmacist who filled Mrs. Johnson's prescription is 1,000 miles away and does not know she likes the blue lisinoprils, not the white lisinoprils.
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CPO in Orlando has fired/let go half its' staff, around 250 people. All stores will lose the overnight delivery of next-day scripts, no matter your script volume. All other CPO/Power functions will be allocated depending on your script volume. Data entry, phone call assistance, remote verification and TPR assistance will all be based on volume with the slowest stores losing all CPO/Power assistance completely. Medium volume stores will get little to no help in general, and high volume store will receive some help with much of it being on a flex schedule or on-demand basis.
 
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